Source:Atlanta LoC signings, 17/18 October 1994 - reports by Erica Sadun
Lord of Chaos signing tour, Atlanta (Science Fiction and Mystery bookstore), 17 October 1994 - Erica Sadun reporting No spoilers. Heights: *Rand - 6'6" *Perrin - 6'2" *Mat - Mat 5'11.5" *Aviendha - 5'8-5'9 *Elayne - 5'6" *Nynaeve - 5'4" *Egwene - 5'2" *Moiraine - 5'0-5'2 Easing the Badger: An in joke between RJ and Wife. "A ceremony" Chicago: "In Chicago, the bookstores were recommending Hotels. They doubled their book order." Covers: Rand originally had DKS's build. Finally he's tall enough. The monkey girl is Egwene. "They're fine." (the covers) World Design: about 10 years before writing commenced. Stopped being a nuclear engineer to write. Tam and Rand: Originally same character--the soldier comes home to a small town. He is *not* Farstrider. He is a blademaster and second captain in Illian. Red Ajah: not all lesbians--just manhaters. RJ knows non-manhating lesbians. Not based at all on Agnes Scott girls. Based on some girls he knew as a child. All women in Randland--based on his wife. "Does she tug her hair?" "No. Mine." Verin: "I don't know what she'd drink but I drink very strong coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon and evenings." (A description of exactly how strong the coffee is followed.) Girl at Citadel: "She is a liar. She & the guidance counseler deliberately whited out all references to her gender." (Followed by about 10 minutes of impassioned talk about how running in combat boots saved his life in Vietnam--facinating, touching and irreproducible.) Sniffs and Snorts--you have to decide which sounds sound like what. "Suian snorts". (why do women sniff and men snort) How many books--"I don't know. 2 maybe 3 maybe 4. I know the last scene. But after I write the last scene that is all there is for these characters." (No Eddings sequels) "Maybe a series in another age." What other books--"More books planned than I have years to write them." Language--It is planned. Based on Russian, Chinese and a bit of spanish with a lot of Gaelic thrown in. Cultures of influence--he's real big on chinese history right now. Why the swords--As in Japan, gunpowder is supressed so martial arts are developed and are based on the sword and on agricultural implements. When did you start reading--4. Started with Letters of Thomas Jefferson and Forever Amber. After, when he got a library card, he found the children's section extremely limiting. Will we see Jain Farstrider? -- read the books. If he's not seen by the last page, he's not in there. The dagger--could Mat have chosen any thing else? Yes, but he wouldn't be Mat then, would he? A dagger would attract him more than a chalice or whatever. Its easy to stick it in the belt. Is Bela Ta'veren?--he quoted John Novak's darkfriend social scene. (He called it the "darkfriend social". He got the name from Judy) Do you get to keep your frequent flier miles on this tour? Yes. & he's going to Sweden next year for the Swedish sci fi convention. Are the sword forms based on reality? -- sort of based on Tai Kwon do and Karate--but from books, not experience. Isn't LoC half of a book--yes. He wanted to experiment. There's something else which is experimental, but he won't say what. What is the world called? Earth. What about RandLand? Chuckle. Why did Mat's battle happen off screen--that's the way battles really happen. You don't actually see anything happen from the point of view its all a matter of waiting and trying not to die. What's the title of the next book--haven't decided. Is the "Binding like criminals" meant to be using the oath rod?--no comment. Unasked but may be answerable by his rules: 1. When Morgase thought "two beautiful children", was she thinking of Gawyn and Elayne or Gawyn and Galad? 2. Was the Verin "Moiraine sent me"/"I did not send her" incident a mistake or plot device? 3. Why did Ishamael split in two at the end of TDR? 4. Who was Kari al'Thor? And what did it mean to be second captain in Illian? 5. Is Egwene the reincarnation of Eldrene of Manatherin? And is Eldrene's veil significant? 6. Is Lews Therin Beidomon? 7. Is there organized religion in Randland? 8. What did your readers guess that you thought they'd never pick up on because you thought it was too subtle? ERICA SADUN http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan/msg/02266c8bc4755915 ---- Lord of Chaos signing tour, Atlanta (Oxford Books), 18 October 1994 - Erica Sadun reporting No spoilers. Oxford's setup did not encourage hanging around to listen to answers so we more or less hustled out of there and went to a bar for the social afterwards. No one drank $37 worth of beer. -- Erica *Tam's Sword: Given to him by the King of Illian. Please ask for more details about this. *Did Bela kill Asmodean: *Mat will lose his eye and Rand a hand: yes. (Did not ask right out. Instead, "Did you deliberately make Rand like Tew/Chew, the god of war who loses his hand?" "And Mat is like Odin who loses his eye..." *When Morgase thought "two beautiful children", was she thinking of Gawyn and Elayne or Gawyn and Galad? *Was the Verin "Moiraine sent me"/"I did not send her" incident a mistake or plot device? "Oh. A plot device..." *Is there organized religion in Randland? Did not get a chance to ask: 1. Why did Ishmael split in two at the end of TDR? 2. Who was Kari al'Thor? And what did it mean to be second captain in Illian? 3. Is Egwene the reincarnation of Eldrene of Manatherin? And is Eldrene's veil significant? Will you explore Egwene's understanding of the old tongue at all? 4. Was Lews Therin Beidomon? 5. What did your readers guess that you thought they'd never pick up on because you thought it was too subtle? 6. Why do some characters go in and out of the woodwork? Like Rand in TDR... 7. What made you choose to have a protagonist who will be going mad? Please *do* identify yourself as a 'net Darkfriend. He seems to like us, be aware of us, etc. And Judy: "All is forgiven". -- Erica http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan/msg/0e29ae36d9249025 Category:Reports from Fans